Campaigns

Since being selected as the Conservative candidate for Battersea in September 2006, I have started or backed a number of campaigns fighting for improvements in our local community, working proudly alongside many residents and community groups from across the constituency. The common aim has been to ensure that the best possible services are available to all of us; that heritage should not be ignored; that common sense occasionally prevails and that the local voices should not be lost in the noise of policy-making directed from central government.

Key local campaigns include:

Supporting the Neighbourhood Schools Campaign to bring a new secondary school to south Battersea - I have been meeting with this campaign's organisers regularly to discuss their vision and the practical aspects of starting a new school. My focus has been firstly on understanding the policy framework under which this idea might be brought to fruition and secondly on the practicalities around using their preferred location, the former Bolingbroke hospital site, 1700 sqm of which is designated for a health centre. If the Conservatives win the General Election, we will make it easier to set up new schools and the ways of funding them would be more flexible.

The Shadow Secretary for Children, Schools and Families, Michael Gove, has visited Battersea to speak with the campaigners and is enthusiastic about the idea in principle. I am following all this policy development closely - if I am fortunate enough to be elected I would want to be able to move quickly into action.

The Local Business Rates Campaign - Many shops and businesses have contacted me to tell me of the enormous financial strain they face. The end of transitional rate relief in 2009 was a hammer blow for many businesses; I complied a dossier showing the impact which was presented to the Chancellor before the 2009 Budget. On top of that the Labour Government's 2010 business rates revaluation has been another blow, with the burden falling especially heavily on London businesses. The Conservative Party's campaign called on the Chancellor to scrap the 2010 revaluation; he ignored this and the rate relief for small business in the 2010 budget barely applies to this area. I support the need for an urgent review of the business rates impact in this area and I will do all I can to support the local small business community in their efforts to secure a fairer deal. Like Wandsworth Council I think we need to push for a change in the law that would see at least some proportion of the business rates set locally in the future.

Ensuring flexible healthcare provision in Battersea - I am currently conducting a survey on the proposed opening hours for the new healthcare centre at Clapham Junction. As part of my campaign for better healthcare I conducted a survey in 2008 and discovered that 50 per cent of respondents under 35 had skipped going to the doctor when ill because they couldn't take time off work. This clinic is in a good place - a busy transport hub - but we have to get the opening hours right for those people working long and demanding hours.

If a Conservative Government is elected, we will work nationally and locally to put patients first, by reducing management waste, decentralising decision making and increasing accountability. If I am elected MP for Battersea, I will continue to campaign for better local health services and for increased patient choice.
Over the past three and a half years I have worked hard on campaigns to:

Save the Bolingbroke Hospital - From 2006 I led Battersea Conservatives' campaign against closure and dispersal believing that the historic Bolingbroke NHS site had an important role to play in the future of Battersea's healthcare. It was desperately sad when the Government finally closed the hospital in December 2008 but without the vigorous local campaign I doubt that 1700sqm of the site would have been designated for a health centre. I believe the Bolingbroke should remain a public building at the heart of Battersea's community and I support the campaign for the remainder of the site to become a new state school.

Combat ID Fraud - On discovering that Battersea residents are more 'at risk' from ID Fraud than most people, I discussed the problem and ways of tacking it with local police chief Stewart Low. I produced a leaflet with Stewart's advice and other useful tips into a Residents' News ID Fraud Special leaflet, and distributed this to householders in the constituency. I ran street stalls across the constituency to publicise the problem.

Improve Clapham Junction - When the proposal for an unsightly and impractical 42-storey tower and residential development at Clapham Junction was put forward, I canvassed local opinion, liaised with Conservative Councillors, asked questions of Network Rail and responded to the consultation in robust terms. I circulated information and views in a special Residents' Newsetter. This formed part of my ongoing campaign to improve commuters' experience at Clapham Junction - without compromising on the local heritage of our area and needs of local residents.

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